“Little Joe” Pavelski scored a league-leading 12 goals in 15 games with four assists for the Pacific division, second-place San Jose Sharks recording his first career NHL hat trick against Tampa Bay on January 18th.

In 56 games this season, Pavelski's 54 points total is second behind Joe Thornton's team-leading 55.

Pavelski, a member of the 2014 United States Olympic team, is currently tied for third place in goals scored in the NHL with 29 just two shy of his single-season career high 31.

The first Star-of-the-Month went to Carolina Hurricanes' goalie Anton Khudobin with Toronto Maple Leaf forward Phil Kessel earning the second Star-of-the-Month honor.

Kessel will be a teammate of Pavelski on the 2014 United States Olympic Team that leaves for Sochi later this month.

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R. Allan Schnoor, a native New Yorker, has been shooting sports for 32 years, the past 14 years in the Bay Area. Allan has worked for many major New York metropolitan area newspapers, including the New York Post, Newsday, Westchester-Rockland Newspapers, and the Newark Star Ledger. He was also a Baltimore AP photographer in the Cal Ripkin era. Additionally, Allan's services have been utilized by, among others, the New York Knicks, MSG College Basketball, and Basketball Times Magazine, and his work has appeared in other publications including Time, Sports Illustrated, Athlon, and Westchester Illustrated. Contact Al with your comments and questions.